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PAHRUMP –Valley Electric Association Inc. (VEA), a member-owned electric cooperative based in Pahrump, NV is continuing to positively impact the communities it serves through continuing development efforts. VEA now employs 107 people full-time, and currently has 31 new job openings, and plans to add a total of 38 positions through the end of the year.

One critical driver of this growth is VEA’s expansion into fiber optic broadband. In 2016, VEA’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Valley Communications Association (VCA) will launch southern Nevada’s first fiber optic internet service network. Currently 10 full-time and contract employees work actively on the project, but that number is expected to grow to 60 by the end of the year. The fiber optic broadband service, with speeds of up to one Gbps, will soon be available to businesses and the residents in Pahrump and Fish Lake Valley.

“VEA will bring fast, reliable and affordable fiber optic broadband internet service to an underserved part of the state,” Tom Husted, CEO of VEA said. “It’s going add jobs, enhance communications and revolutionize internet service in our territory.”

Additional new jobs at VEA are only part of the equation. VEA generates nearly one job in the community for every full time VEA employee. This means that with its current count of 107 full-time employees, VEA supports approximately 96 indirect and induced jobs in the area, according to the University of Wisconsin’s Center for Cooperatives. Additionally, the fiber optic initiative will contribute significantly to property tax revenues and to ancillary businesses. Simply put, when VEA grows, so does the community. To learn more, visit http://vea.coop/content/employment-opportunities.

About Valley Electric Association, Inc.

Valley Electric Association, Inc. (VEA) is a member-owned nonprofit electric utility headquartered in Pahrump, Nev. While VEA started as a small rural electric utility in 1965, the company now provides service to more than 45,000 people within a vast 6,800-square-mile service area located primarily along the California-Nevada border, with the majority in Nevada. VEA’s service area starts in Sandy Valley, southwest of Las Vegas, and extends north for more than 250 miles to Fish Lake Valley. For more information about VEA, please visit www.vea.coop.
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